


Of Donkeys and Dormice

by indimitable



Series: Dr. Freckles [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Single mom Eliza, adorable kids, tooth-rotting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 18:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7278253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indimitable/pseuds/indimitable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An hour in the life of single-mom-extraordinaire Eliza Schuyler. Set about two years before Dr. Freckles. Angie is 8 months old, Philip is 4.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Donkeys and Dormice

“Philip, what do you want for lunch?” Eliza asked, glancing in the rearview mirror to check on her kiddos. Angie was gurgling happily as Philip batted the mobile on her carseat back and forth, much to Eliza’s amusement.

“Grilled cheese!” Philip said, smiling down at his baby sister. “Is Angie old enough for grilled cheese yet?”

“Not quite,” Eliza laughed. “But you could help me feed her some applesauce after you finish your lunch.” Philip clapped his hands, and Angie stuffed one of her fists into her mouth.

They pulled into the driveway, and Philip wriggled in his car seat until Eliza pulled open his door and unbuckled him. He smacked a kiss against her cheek before scrambling out of the car, and Eliza sighed. Based on the stickiness clinging to his lips, he’d probably found a piece of leftover Halloween candy when she wasn’t looking. 

“What are we going to do with your silly big brother, hmm?” Eliza cooed at Angie as she lifted her 8-month-old out of the carseat and into her arms. Angie smiled widely at her mother, showing off her pink gums, and Eliza dropped a kiss onto her cheek before slinging the diaper bag over her other shoulder and heading inside before Philip could locate any more candy in her absence.

Luckily, when Eliza found Philip, he hadn’t found more candy. Unluckily (for her, at least), he’d discovered his Christmas present.

“Look, Mom!” He cried, noticing her in the doorway with her hand on one hip and Angie on the other. “Why is there a water gun in your closet?”

“It was supposed to be your Christmas present,” Eliza admitted with a gentle sigh, wincing as Angie tugged on her hair. Eliza uncurled her little fist carefully, her eyes tracking the water from the plastic gun in her son’s hands, all over her nice carpet, and into her bathroom. “Philip, did you fill that gun up in my bathtub?” Eliza asked sternly.

“I couldn’t turn on the water,” Philip pouted, fiddling with the trigger of the gun. Eliza sighed in relief, then realized he wasn’t done. After all, there was still water dripping onto her carpet, so where did it come from? “I filled it up in the sink!” Philip told her proudly. He raised the gun a little, and Eliza shifted Angie out of the way. 

“If you shoot that gun anywhere in my house, you won’t be getting anything from me or Santa,” she told him. Philip deflated, lowering the gun. “However, if you use it to water my plants gently, then you can invite Sam over tomorrow and I’ll show you where I hid the other two,” she added. Philip perked up, and she smiled at him.

“Thanks, Mommy!” He cried. He made to hug her, but Eliza stepped back quickly. 

“First, put the gun down,” Eliza reminded him, shifting Angie to her other hip when the baby began to fuss. Philip dropped the gun, sending water spraying all over her carpet and bed, and Eliza let out a tiny groan as Philip darted into her waiting arms.

“Now, how about some lunch?” Eliza suggested, sending a despairing glance at her bed. She’d have to change her sheets for sure, although luckily it was just water this time. Earlier in the week, Philip had spilled his apple juice all over it.

Philip darted ahead of her into the kitchen, and Angie whimpered. Eliza frowned, then sniffed Angie’s bottom gingerly. She frowned, carrying Angie over to the changing table. 

“Didn’t I just change you in the doctor’s office, sweetie?” Eliza asked. Angie’s only response was to screw up her face in what Eliza recognized instantly as her “I’m-gonna-scream” face, and Eliza set her down on the changing table carefully, handing her baby a stuffed giraffe. “Shh, it’s okay,” Eliza reassured her, unbuttoning the onesie and sliding it up. She trailed her fingers along Angie’s soft tummy, then down to her tiny bare feet, tickling her. Angie’s face smoothed out into a smile, and she started to gnaw on the giraffe. “There we go, honey,” Eliza grinned down at Angie as she sped through the familiar motions of a diaper change, making a mental note to tell Alex that Angie needed more changing than normal lately.

“Mommy, what’s taking so long?” Philip whined from the doorway. “I’m hungry!”

“I’m coming, kiddo,” Eliza assured him as she re-buttoned Angie’s onesie and slipped socks onto her feet. “Your sister decided she needed to go potty again, but she’s all better now, aren’t we, darling?” Angie gurgled, waving the giraffe in Eliza’s face, and Eliza giggled as she let Philip pull her into the kitchen.

“I already got out all the ingredients,” Philip told Eliza importantly. He gestured to the counter, where he’d set out bread, gummy worms, butter, marshmallows, and sprinkles.

“I can see that,” Eliza nodded, hiding a smile behind Angie’s head. “I think you forgot the cheese, though, unless you just want grilled bread?” Philip spun around, opening the fridge to search for the cheese, and Eliza raced to put away the sweets while his back was turned. “Thanks, sweetie, you did a great job helping me get lunch ready,” Eliza complimented him. She settled Angie into her high chair, then pulled it over so that Angie was close enough to be happy, but not close enough to be able to touch the stove.

“Can I cut the cheese?” Philip asked, snickering at his own joke. Eliza sighed, recognizing it as one of Alex’s favorite things to say while cooking. 

“You can put butter on the bread for me,” Eliza told him. “But I have to use the grown-up knife to cu- to slice up the cheese.” Philip giggled, causing Angie to giggle too, and Eliza made sure she was facing away from them before rolling her eyes. If they hadn’t learned how to roll their eyes from their father yet, then they certainly wouldn’t learn it from her. 

“Eese!” Angie cried from her high chair, and Eliza nearly sliced her thumb open in shock. “Eese!” Angie said again, and Eliza whirled to face her, grinning. So far, Angie had just said “Mama” and “Da,” making this her first real word.

“Cheese, silly,” Philip corrected his little sister. “Mommy, why can’t she say ch?”

“It’s hard for a baby’s lips to move like that,” Eliza told him, still smiling at Angie. “You couldn’t say it either, when you were her age.”

“What was my first word?” Philip asked. Angie repeated “eese!” again, and Eliza beamed at her. 

“Good job, sweetie,” Eliza told Angie. “Your first word was tuck,” she added to Philip. “You were trying to say truck, though.”

“Oh,” Philip frowned. “Why didn’t I say something cooler? Like donkey?”

“Donkey?” Eliza repeated, her frown mirroring Philip’s. “Why are donkeys cool, bud?”

“Because they’re in Shrek!” Philip said. “We should get one as a pet, they’re really smart and they can talk.” Eliza blinked. That was a new one. He’d asked for lots of things for pets before, most recently the tooth fairy, but never a donkey.

“Where did you see Shrek?” She asked him.

“At Daddy’s house last week,” he told her. “So does that mean we can’t get a donkey as a pet?”

“They’re a little too big, sorry, honey,” Eliza told him. Hadn’t Alex been the one to decide Shrek should go on the no-watching-with-the-kids list? He’d cited it on numerous occasions as “weird and ugly,” as well as “horrifying” and “the stuff of nightmares.”

“What about a dormice?” Philip asked, and Eliza tore her thoughts away from Shrek to put the first sandwich on the skillet before glancing down at Philip.

“You mean a dormouse,” she corrected him. “Dormice means there’s more than one. Why do you want a dormouse? Where did you even hear about them?”

“With you!” Philip exclaimed. “When we watched Alice in Wonderland, there was a dormouse in it!” Eliza cast her mind back over the movie, but couldn’t remember a dormouse. It must have been during one of the times she was soothing Angie. “Can we get a dormouse, Mommy, please? It’s really small and cute and furry, and I’d take care of it! I wouldn’t even let Angie eat it.”

“I don’t think Angie would want to eat a dormouse,” Eliza chuckled as she flipped the sandwiches over. Angie gurgled happily, tossing her giraffe onto the floor. Eliza dusted it off and handed it back to her. “I do think that the cat would, though, so a dormouse is out. Why do you want another pet, honey?”

“Because I want all the pets,” Philip told her. 

“All of them, ever?” Eliza laughed. Philip nodded seriously. She smiled as she put a sandwich onto a plate and handed it to him, setting a bottle in the microwave for Angie. “Then no one else would get a pet!”

“I’d decide who gets a pet,” Philip declared. “I’d give half to Angie, half to you, half to Daddy, and keep half for myself!” Eliza decided not to tell him that his math wasn’t adding up, choosing to feed Angie her bottle instead.


End file.
